Kjell Inge Rokke's Aker Group has appointed Torbjorn Kjus as its chief economist.
Kjus will join the Oslo-listed group at the end of this month from Vistin Pharma, where he was head of the drugmaker’s energy trading operation.
His six-month stint at Vistin Pharma ended on 2 January this year, when it was announced he had left the company.
Six days later, the company announced it would close its energy trading operation after racking up almost $12m in losses, which appears to have been a failure of strategy rather than of personnel.
Prior to joining Vistin, Kjus spent 11 years as DNB Markets’ chief oil analyst.
He spent earlier parts of his career analysing global energy markets for Norsk Hydro in Oslo and BP in London.
“The international energy markets have been challenging and the trading positions taken by the company have so far not performed as planned,” Vistin said in a statement.
The company had hoped to take advantage of price differentials between high- and low-sulphur marine fuel ahead of the 2020 global limit.
